President Donald Trump on his first day in office signed immigration executive orders focusing on border enforcement, removal, asylum, and birthright citizenship....more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will use the Final Action Dates for Employment-Based Adjustment of Status Applications chart in February 2025. The Final Action Dates chart reflects minor advancement in...more
As part of our Spotlight series, we invited Shannon Donnelly, a partner in our Washington, DC office who works with clients on a wide range of complex global immigration and mobility issues, to discuss the proposed H1B...more
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) with respect to the regulations governing the H-1B nonimmigrant visa classification. The proposed rule seeks to improve the...more
A federal government shutdown will impact some, but not all, US immigration and visa programs. The principal distinction is between those programs that are fee-funded and those that rely on congressional appropriations for...more
US restrictions on international travel will be lifted November 8 for fully vaccinated international visitors and temporary workers, including those from nearly three dozen nations who have been barred from entering the...more
Effective October 8, 2020, the US Department of Labor will determine the prevailing wage for permanent labor certifications and labor condition applications based on a new formula for computing prevailing wage levels,...more
10/9/2020
/ Buy American and Hire American ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-3 ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
H-1B1 ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
LCA ,
Minimum Wage ,
PERM ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS ,
Visas ,
Wage and Hour
Via its verified Twitter account, the US Department of State confirmed, “If you were in the US on June 24th but left and your visa expired, you are not subject to the Proclamation [and] may renew your visa before December 31,...more
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on April 22 suspending entry into the United States of certain groups of immigrants who would otherwise be eligible to enter the United States as permanent residents....more
In the March 2020 Visa Bulletin issued by the US Department of State, EB-2 worldwide employment-based classifications, excluding China and India, remain available and current; the Dates for Filing Chart sees no advancement;...more
2/26/2020
/ China ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
El Salvador ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Final Action ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Foreign Workers ,
Guatemala ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Honduras ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
India ,
Mexico ,
Philippines ,
US Department of State ,
Vietnam ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas
A new US Department of State policy that took effect on January 24 makes it more difficult for pregnant women to obtain B nonimmigrant visas to visit the United States if the consular officer has reason to believe that the...more
1/30/2020
/ ESTA ,
Foreign Nationals ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Immigration Reform ,
Non-Immigrant Visas ,
Path To Citizenship ,
Pregnancy ,
Tourism ,
US Department of State ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Waiver Program ,
Visas
Now is the time for employers to begin assessing their FY2021 H-1B needs. Employers should review the immigration status of their current and potential foreign national employees and identify any individuals for whom H-1B...more
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on November 7 that it has issued the final rule requiring payment of a $10 nonrefundable fee for each H-1B registration upon implementation of the new electronic...more
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 11 enjoined and halted enforcement of the new public charge rule that was due to become effective October 15, 2019. The court not only enjoined the US...more
Israeli entrepreneurs will be able to get E-2 investor visas to launch startups in high-tech and other industries in the United States, and to work in the country to develop those businesses. Reciprocal rules will allow US...more
Now is the time for employers to assess their FY2020 H-1B needs and start preparing their petitions for submission on April 1. It is very likely that the cap for H-1B petitions will be reached in early April of this year, so...more
Most operations across US immigration agencies are either fee based or considered “essential” and therefore would be expected to proceed normally if the government were to shut down on December 22....more
In the January 2019 visa bulletin issued by the US Department of State, EB-1 remains backlogged for all country allotments, advancing by only two-and-a-half to three months....more
12/18/2018
/ China ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
EB-4 ,
EB-5 ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Guatemala ,
Honduras ,
India ,
Mexico ,
Philippines ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas
A registration program proposed by US Citizenship and Immigration Services would eliminate the need for paper filings prior to the lottery process for cap-subject H-1B petitions, and increase the chance of selection for...more
In the October 2018 visa bulletin issued by the US Department of State, EB-1 remains backlogged for all countries of chargeability, and EB-2 and EB-3 are once again current for worldwide allotment....more
9/14/2018
/ China ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
EB-4 ,
EB-5 ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Guatemala ,
Honduras ,
India ,
Mexico ,
Philippines ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas
US Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced without warning that it will extend its suspension of premium processing for cap-subject H-1B petitions and, beginning September 11, expand it to include additional H-1B...more
EB-1 to retrogress for most categories; EB-3 China to advance by one year.
The US Department of State has released its August 2018 Visa Bulletin setting out per-country priority date cutoffs that regulate immigrant visa...more
7/18/2018
/ China ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
EB-4 ,
EB-5 ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Guatemala ,
Honduras ,
India ,
Mexico ,
Philippines ,
Popular ,
US Department of State ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas
Final Action dates for China and India EB-1 categories remain unchanged, while EB-2 India advances slightly....more
6/20/2018
/ China ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
EB-4 ,
EB-5 ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Guatemala ,
Honduras ,
India ,
Mexico ,
Philippines ,
Popular ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas
Final Action dates for China and India EB-1 categories remain unchanged, while EB-2 India advances slightly....more
5/18/2018
/ China ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
EB-4 ,
EB-5 ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Guatemala ,
Honduras ,
India ,
Mexico ,
Philippines ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas
Final Action dates for China and India EB-1 categories remain unchanged, while EB-2 China and EB-3 India cutoff dates will advance....more
4/19/2018
/ China ,
EB-1 ,
EB-2 ,
EB-3 ,
EB-4 ,
EB-5 ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Guatemala ,
Honduras ,
India ,
Mexico ,
Philippines ,
US Department of State ,
USCIS ,
Visa Applications ,
Visa Bulletins ,
Visas